Let me tell you a bit about us:
We live in Spain, but my DH is British, so we are planning to relocate to England in the mid-term (about 1,5 years from now). My kids go to what we feel is a great school (state): very little homework, no books, working on projecs and also there are several open workshops -art, language, maths, science, gym, etc. all presented through games, etc. - every afternoon and they can choose freely where to go, although at the end of the month they are expected to have visited every workshop at least once. They get marks only at the end of the year every two years (meanwhile, they get detailed reports every term) and they are marked mostly regarding their individual progress towards the objective standard the State sets.
WARNING: NOT EVERY SCHOOL IN SPAIN or even in Barcelona IS LIKE THIS, but we were lucky to get this particular one just round the corner. My kids are very happy, they never miss school and they love every minute, their teachers and classmates. My DD1 is very bright and excels in most things; my DS is bright in his own particular way, he's a late developer and he does not yet read or write but he is working steadily towards it, while learning all that there is to know about reptiles and dinosaurs. He's also a born artist.
The downside? The whole thing is done 90% in Catalan language (Barcelona city), which is not a language we speak as a family (my language is Spanish, DH's English -obviously- and the kids are trilingual, with Catalan by far the weakest). My DD1 is 10 so she'll finish primary next year, DS is 7, he's in 2nd grade here, and the little one will only begin next year at 3 y of age (kindergarden, just playing until they're 6, but in the same school).
So, after all this, when we think about moving to Britain and look at schools... we (mostly I) are terrified by the system: all those tests, all the homework, uniforms (least of all, but they have never worn one!), catchment areas, teachers called Mrs X or Mr Y (they call their teachers by their first name), more tests, GCSE, A levels...aaaarrrgggghhhh it is really that terrifying or it is just more or less the same with a different "look"?
Does anyone know of a school like the one I've described above? Remotely like it? (state, I mean, we are by no means well off).
I've been looking for a while but I have not found anything, so I have thought "wait a minute! You can home educate in UK!!" And everything began looking nicer. Would that be the solution for us or should I keep looking for a school like ours in England? (Pref. Herts or Cambs).